ps: The last 50 minutes are doubled, hurry up and check your monthly pass, and if you haven't voted yet, hurry up and vote......

On the morning of October 4, Truman received two pieces of good news, one good and one bad, and the bad news diluted the good news. Pen, fun, pavilion www. biquge。 info

The good news is from Hawaii, the Nimitz fleet has successfully arrived, the Wasp has been inspected by engineers on the spot, confirmed that it can be completely repaired, the estimated construction period is 20-25 days, as far as possible to complete the repair in about three weeks.

The bad news was an urgent telegram from the Galapagos Islands that the main force of the Japanese fleet had been spotted west-northwest of the island, moving at a speed of about 17 knots.

The Galapagos Islands are the gateway to Central America in the direction of the Pacific Ocean, and their geographical location is relatively important, and they belong to Ecuador administratively, but the United States has stationed more than 100 battalions and more than 100 aircraft on them, as well as relatively abundant supplies. When the Joint Chiefs of Staff returned the Nimitz fleet to China, it tried to resupply the fleet on the island and then turn back to the United States. Geographically, once the island is occupied, it can effectively threaten several countries in Central and northwestern South America (Ecuador, Colombia, and Peru are all counted)

"Can we continue to increase troops on the island?"

"No, firstly, the Ecuadorian authorities strongly oppose it, the country is so far neutral; second, it was useless to increase troops, and in the face of the 18-inch cannon, it was just a futile delivery to the Japanese army; Third, what if we draw troops to defend Panama and the Japanese go to Panama first with a false shot? Going back and forth is the most fatal! Spruance frowned, "I'm more worried about what to do with Panama now?" After the occupation of the island, unless we have a chance to recapture it, the Panama Canal will be under the deterrence of the island even if it is built. ”

Of course, Tsukahara will not pick and choose the target at random, and the location of the Galapagos Islands archipelago is very delicate, more than 1,000 kilometers away from Panama and the South American mainland, which is just enough to cover the whole territory.

Truman also saw on the map that the direction of the Japanese fleet's navigation was very critical at present, and he did not dare to guarantee whether the next direction of the Japanese army's action would be to attack Panama or occupy the island first, and several staff officers believed that it would be at least until night to be able to judge whether the Japanese army would attack the archipelago or Panama.

"Hell, it was dark at that time, how do I know where the Japanese are going to fight?"

Arnold, who was in command in San Francisco, also learned of the news and sent an urgent telegram, on the one hand, he strongly stated the fact that the island's defense was not strong, and on the other hand, he believed that Panama was more important, and suggested that the defenders could fully retreat to defend Panama after destroying the stockpile.

At the urgently convened Joint Staff Meeting, Truman first asked people to state the current war situation, and then coldly commanded Dewey's army: "Mr. Dewey, what do you think about this matter?" Judging from the current situation, the Galapagos Islands will certainly not be able to hold on, and the full withdrawal of sabotage materials can enrich Panama's defenses, but politically it feels less than ideal; Ordering the defenders to hold out to the end can only lead to the annihilation of the entire army, which does not feel ideal militarily. ”

This dilemma made Dewey choose, he racked his brains and couldn't think of a good way, and finally said, "This is ...... At present, I am in the audit stage, and I am very unfamiliar with the situation, so I naturally rely on your opinions. ”

"Then take General Arnold's advice, destroy all the supplies at once, and then retreat to Panama and Ecuador; At the same time, inform the Panamanian direction of full alert! ”

In the afternoon, a colorful cloud sent the latest investigation news. Kusaka Ryunosuke was overjoyed when he saw it, and reported to Tsukahara 243: "Sir, the U.S. troops are retreating, and the reconnaissance plane sees thick smoke billowing and gunpowder on the island, and black oil stains on the sea surface one after another, it seems that the defenders are destroying supplies. ”

"Americans have learned wisely and know that a hard top is not the way, but is retreating the way?" Tsukahara smiled slightly, "What's the situation with Tsunoda?" ”

"He pushed the fleet back a little, and it is now about 2,600 kilometers from Pearl Harbor, and there is no sign of the enemy leaving the port, and there is no sign of any change in the American forces on the west coast."

"The U.S. fleet has just returned, and it really needs a good rest before it can fight. Send a telegram to him, emphasizing that once the US troops leave the port, no matter how many troops there are, whether they are sure of victory or not, they should not fight, but do their best to take the other side around in circles, and delay it for a little time! In another week, the Commander's fleet of reinforcements will be ready to go! ”

"Onboard!"

"Onboard!"

On the evening of October 5, as the huge figure of the Yamato and a string of steel jungles appeared on the surface of the sea, the port of Ayola was immediately bustling with people, and people in kimonos and dragging clogs wept with joy and jumped and jumped.

Immediately after the withdrawal of the US troops, the Ecuadorian administration informed the Japanese by telegram that there were no US troops on the Japanese island and hoped that the other side would not attack, and at the same time conveyed its opinion to the German embassy, stating that it had absolutely no intention of opposing the Axis. The country is still very sensible, and it did not come up with any "neutral country is sacrosanct" to annoy the Japanese, and the island can be bulldozed in minutes, so why bother?

As for the residents who chanted slogans and waved the small flag of the Rising Sun Maru, all of them were descendants of immigrants from the Japanese mainland for decades, who were usually cautious, but now they came out with all their toes in an instant, which made the Ecuadorians uncomfortable but helpless.

Ecuador is also a small country in South America, and it has been clinging to the thigh of the United States for many years, but now this thigh seems to be showing signs of being unable to protect itself, not only has it been driven back from Europe, but it is almost unable to control the home field of South America. Of course, the Ecuadorians did not dare to be presumptuous, and it was simply envious and jealous to see the sour pleasure of the confiscation of Anglo-American capital by the countries of the La Plata Group. Envy can be envied, but they dare not follow suit, so they can only carefully adopt the policy of not offending and engaging in external neutrality.

In fact, the Combined Fleet does not have much land strength now, Kuribayashi Tadamichi brought out a total of only one Second Guards Division, and a multi-wing team was stationed on Midway Island, which lost several thousand due to air raids and battles on Christmas Island, and then stationed two multi-wing troops on Christmas Island, and this time the number of troops who came to accompany the attack was less than 2,000.

Tsukahara also knew that the army was not enough to use, and had sent a telegram to the country, hoping to send a little more army with a "sacrificial spirit" to garrison, Horikichi understood what he meant, and asked the army dignitaries, and finally got the second division and the reinforcements for the second guard division from Ishihara Waner, and then the corresponding ships and supplies had to be expanded.

The long-distance garrison was expensive, but it was well worth it to be able to station troops on the Galapagos island, which would amount to a direct Japanese base for deterring Central America.

After the landing, the army sent people to inform them that most of the US camps and facilities were intact and could be used, and even the radar station was not completely blown up, but only a few key equipment were damaged in a hurry, but the rest of the materials were almost destroyed, especially the heavy oil that the fleet longed for the most was basically bottomed out, and the entire bay was covered with a black oil slick. Overall, with a little tidying up, there is a ready-made camp, and the facilities are much better than what Japan built itself! The main force of the entire combined fleet did not dock only in one voyage battle, and remained more than 200 kilometers away from the island, ready to cover it in an emergency.

After arriving on the island, Tsukahara and Ecuadorian officials made a courtesy visit, saying that the fleet would be stationed there, and that "in order to prevent further violations of Ecuadorian neutrality by the United States, Japan will station troops here, but it will not harm Ecuador's interests."

Naturally, the Ecuadorians do not believe this kind of statement, but the situation is stronger than the people -- why can't the United States station troops in Japan? I can only say goodbye after making a promise.

On the other hand, senior staff officers had already gone to meet with overseas Japanese and Japanese ethnic groups, and while appeasing and thanking them, they were asked for all available information.

"The garrison must be disciplined, Ecuador is a neutral country, not a hostile country, and it is not easy to clean up a scandal! If you don't have enough living supplies to buy them with the seized dollar bills and Ecuadorians, you can ask our expatriates to be intermediaries! Tsukahara sighed as he issued the order, "It's a good place, but it's a pity that I can't occupy it for long." ”

"You're worried about a U.S. counteroffensive?"

"No, Germany."

Kusaka Ryunosuke paused for a moment: "Isn't Germany also attacking cities and plundering land in the Americas?" When it comes to domestic descendants, there are more descendants of Japanese descent than descendants of Germans! ”

"But Japan is not as strong as Germany, especially at this embarrassing moment when we have a lot of demands on Germany in other aspects, and we can't go against Germany. Germany will definitely have to reach out to this island in the future, and it would be nice if it could finally exchange some practical benefits - as in the case of the island of Guinea! ”

"What's next? Our army does not have much fuel left, and it will take at least three weeks for the commander's follow-up team to come up, and today we have not been able to get fuel from the US army. ”

"Don't worry, rest for 3 days, and then we'll go to Lima."

"To Peru?"

"The commander communicated with the Germans before the battle, and the German side came forward to coordinate the La Plata group to help our army replenish, the fleet can dock in Peru, and we will not be short of fuel and materials, and the Germans will settle the payment, and then settle the account."

Hearing that Horikichi had already made arrangements, Kusaka Ryunosuke put his mind at ease, and thought about it: The chief said that he was going to attack the West Coast, how could he not be prepared at all? The biggest hidden danger now is the Tsunoda fleet, and I hope that he can continue to circle around the sea and not be caught by the American fleet at Pearl Harbor.

Halsey, who had received the news of the Japanese occupation of the Galapagos Islands, believed that since the main Japanese fleet was not there, it was time to send the fleet out to attack the Japanese fleet, which had less than 500,000 tons of fuel reserves. He believes that one Essex-class with 7-8 escort carriers is enough to overwhelm the opponent.

But Nimitz felt that the time was not yet ripe, and he wanted to completely repair the Wasp before fighting the broken fleet. His reasoning was, "The key to solving the problem now is not to fight a defeat with the Japanese, but to simply destroy the enemy army, even at the cost of the sinking of the Franklin, which we cannot afford at present." ”

Ingram was sandwiched between the two, feeling that it made sense, and it was hard to say anything......